Ideas for a Man Cave – Nerd or Geek?

Get your popcorn out- this is going to be one of the most heated debates you will hear about! Most of us have either read a few comics or watched the movies or TV series, but to those of us who are avid fans- the debates among characters can create the most interesting of feuds. Cool man cave accessories can be a combination of a variety of things, but there are a few categories of ideas for a man cave that no true nerd or geek will cross. Let us delve into the most intriguing feuds of the last century that matters when setting up your ideal comic/nerd/geek themed man cave.

DC vs Marvel

Why not start with one of the most popular feuds on all spectrums! Are you a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers? Or are you a fan the Justice League, Super Man and Wonder Woman? I can list off a bunch of characters for each, but if you are reading this you probably already have an idea of which theme you want to lean towards.

In terms of TV and Movie appeal, Marvel has been owning the box office and will continue to do so for what seems like decades to come. There are characters like Captain America, Ant Man, Iron Man, Thor, The Guardians of the Galaxy, and Deadpool. If you are a fan of all things entertainment, there is no doubt you have seen a majority of these and would be happy to have any related memorabilia or wall art present in your man cave. I have a bunch of these products available on my post here. But…..what if these aren’t the characters for you?

Perhaps Superman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Batman, Aquaman, etc are the ones you seek! Batman, the DC version of Ironman (in terms of no super power but with a lot of money) or The Flash (like Quick Silver) are appealing to some over their comic counterparts, allowing a different array of fantasy and awe. Whichever you choose, don’t forget where these character came from- The Comics!!!

My wife and I debated between these two comic categories to the point where half our living room is split between decorations of either enterprise. You too have this option, separating half your room into a Marvel Universe and the other into the DC universe, where us mortals are stuck inbetween. Whatever route you take, don’t forget to prepare for the best debate when your friends come over as there are some pretty devout fans out there!

Star Wars vs Star Trek

These aren’t the drones you are looking for, or are they? This has been an ongoing debate since the 80s- and it will not disappear for quite some time. Millennium Falcon vs U.S.S. Enterprise- the two most iconic ships that exist in outer space. Romulans vs the the Republic. The captivating ideology of a life and intergalactic war between planets is something that keeps us glued to the screen, waiting to see what happens next!

Determining what happens next is really a matter of your preference- which side will you choose? If Star Wars, then dark or light? If Star Trek, will you fight with Captain Kirk or with Kahn? I always loved this debate, so I took the picture to the left and sent it to my friends who are die hard fans of one or the other. Out of the 13 response I got, only one involved someone not cursing at me- love the dedication!

This is truly the only theme that I can never imagin being able to cross into both platforms. I have NEVER seen someone with both Star Wars and Star Trek memorabilia (on purpose)- never. In some instances, fans incorporate their own man cave memorabilia into their wedding- cue me. I took elements from my own man cave and brought them to the wedding: death star disco ball, light sabers used as the flower holders, coasters with the famous “i love you, I know.” On the opposite end of the spectrum, others sway away from the storm trooper helmets and put on the fake ears to Spock the night away- sometimes even creating the inside of the Enterprise as their own man cave. These two mega-corporations will forever link to the nerd and geek world, and I can’t wait to see what is to come!

Anime vs Animated

This is probably the most common question in the East, as anime has taken over nations in Asia and spread their content over to the Americas. Whether you are a fan of Dragonball Z, Full Metal Alchemist, Pokemon, or any other of the long list of anime shows, there is an immense amount of content out there for you to decorate your man cave. The common misperception of Anime is that it is solely popular in Cosplay. False. There are Pop Heads, replica weapons, lamp designs, etc.- all available content that can be found for any other genre you choice (if not more).

Anime’s counterpart, animated shows and films, have the same appeal in all respects. Animated memorabilia may not be as popular in the Adult world (I am talking PG 13 fellas, calm down), but it does appeal to a large amount who want this specific theme for their man cave. There are so many different animated characters and shows out there that you could spend days upon days searching them on the internet- it comes down to choosing which ones work for you and whether or not you want to mix and match between Anime and Animated characters.

Whatever decision you choose, this battle has no losing side!

Heroes vs Villians

Such an open themed question! Once you choose your overall theme from the lists above or one you composed yourself, you can decide whether to break it down even further should you choose to do so. Are you in favor of the dark side or the jedi’s? Klingons or Enterprise? Goku or Vegata?

The lists are far to long to name across on genres, but there is another way you can increase the appeal of your man cave by incorporating both the heroes and villians, or just one side. If you go the first route, you can have half your man cave decorated with heroes, one side with villians. I have seen a DC Universe themed man cave with the first picture on the left featuring Batman and the first on the left featuring the Joker- both facing each other. The rest of the wall has the same effect so each hero is facing his or her villian.

Opposite of this is the ability to mix and match. Can’t decide on whether to choose good or evil? That is fine, let’s do both an incorporate the whole character list of what made that peticular genre appealing to you! The next debate is the most intriguing of all though….

Harry Potter vs …Narnia?

Just kidding, this isn’t really a battle. Harry Potter took over the world over a decade ago and has captivated multiple generations, while Narnia is a smaller series with less intrigue and appeal. The concepts of a Harry Potter man cave has equal appeal to that of others in terms of choosing good vs evil, a combination of both, or just one or the other.

The man cave decor you can gather from this is exceptional, as the series is recent and there are a plethora of decorations ranging from a variety of mug options to furniture. Too many to list, not enough room to horde!

Also- to add a little excitement to what you could do to your Nerd or Geek man cave, Youtuber gaminggeek has an awesome nerd-cave that he made a video of for others to see

If you do decide to go this route, or any route listed above, please feel free to comment below and leave a picture for others to see!

30 thoughts on “Ideas for a Man Cave – Nerd or Geek?”

OMG. I’m a BIG superman fan any time of the day! It’s funny, I didn’t like these characters as comic strips. But I loved them in the movies. Once again, fantastic post. I really am enjoying your creativity and topics.

Thank you! My wife an I are huge comic fans. In fact, when I proposed I got a little lego superman and a little lego wonder woman and had the superman holding the ring. Dorkiest moment of my life yet one of the best moments too.

Hi, I truly have to admit I never thought of a man cave in quite this way. 🙂 I’m more of a Marvel gal with the exception of wonder woman. The new wonder woman kicks butt! Hands-down Star Trek over Star Wars. I enjoyed your post and the enthusiasm. 🙂

What your friend of a friend did with the themed home cinema sounds amazing! That is the whole concept here- to give people ideas of what they can do, and offer them a place to find these items. I too am a fan of the geeked out caves (and my wife is all for the nerdiness too!)

It’d be so hard to pick just one theme!!!! I myself love horror movies,I bet a man cave based off of horror movies would be epic, that would be my dream come true to be honest haha. But this great offering up ideas for themes, I could spend hours trying to figure out a them.

I love this post, some great ideas I had ever thought about using a theme before. I love all the star wars films and so do my kids. well I built a man cave for chilling out in my spare room unfortunately its kind of boring with your typical relaxing stuff like old vinyl records stag pictures, and wooden log wallpaper. needless to say with 3 young boys my man cave has become a toy room.
thanks to this post I am considering a star wars theme where they can have there toys in it and I can still have what I want.

I’ve seen some really aswome man caves some even with secret entrances and personal movie theaters but for the people who don t have the money to afford something so sophisticalted, you could just do like a 50″ flat screen with surround sound and an xbox one or ps4 whichever your preference and maybe get some rope light and wrap them all around the room and then get some accent lighting to put behind your tv thats what I would do personally, anyway thanks for sharing your ideas and have a rest of your day.

For true gamers that is the ideal man cave. A gaming theme post is in the works and will always be the ideal theme for gamers of all ages. There are so many man cave ideas that fit people’s personalities- and the gaming one is coming soon!

The heroes vs villains is one of my favorite ideas because you can do so much with it. You can have them facing each other as if it were a face off, or you can simply decorate it in any which way possible. Your family is quite the DC Universe bunch!

I don’t have a man cave now, but I do plan on having one at some point in my life. I’ve already decided that at the very least my favorite Marvel characters will be included. I’m a big fan of sports too, and I’m going to look weird having nerdy objects and sports objects up in my man cave, but I don’t care. I was disappointed yesterday, I’m a big White Sox fan and they were giving away to first 1200 fans in attendance a White Sox Iron Man bobblehead. I didn’t get there in time! But man that would’ve been a perfect crossover for my future mancave. Thanks for sharing some geeky theme ideas!

I have sports and comic related things in my man cave and it honestly doesn’t look to weird. I am a Red Sox fan, so I have a few things I found throughout the years in combination with my nerdy stuff. If you decorate the bar area with sports, or one half of the room and then the other half with Marvel– you would be surprised and good it may look!

Really a post every male and female who loves sci fi, DC Comics or super heroes would appreciate .I would probably would have mostly sports memorabilia in my man cave. Your photos and article reminds me as I always wanted to go to the CapCom convention and meet my Spiderman hero.

Never really thought of adding any of these to a Man Cave but like my Sports Memorabilia and Fish and firearms stuff these collectible comic and hero items make sense. You grow up but not entirely and having something that reminds you of your youth is soul building. We all have heroes, real or imaginary and we have a little Geek or Nerd inside every one of us.

I 100% agree! We have all evolved over time, whether it is to new interests or parenting, but we never forget our roots or our interests that made us who we are today. I love the aspects of the geek or nerd in all of us- combine that with your modern likes and you can’t go wrong!

I love this article!!!
It’s so funny how we all vary in our preferences, for example, I would want the “man/woman cave” to be all about Batman, where my partner would much prefer it to be about Star Wars. We have had to agree that it is both, as our cave is the hang out for the entire family!

My wife and I have out living room decorated in a combination of a few themes now, but the man cave (or she cave) does have this capability. If you are going for a cave with multiple themes, I would recommend the divided cave or the three room cave option for a basement as that would allow you to cover all these areas without them intertwined. I hope you both get a cave of your dreams and can make this happen!

Ha, I love this! Great way ot start a nerd war, for sure. I’m not a man, so no man cave here, but I would still love to decorate my home with some of this stuff. My husband and I are on opposite sides of just about everythign on the list, though, so it would literally be a war throughout the house!

Opposites attract! I love a good nerd war, as my wife and I are both nerdy and there are a few things we go back and forth on in a nerdy debate! One of you could geek out, while the other gets their nerd on! If you see something you like on this site, feel free to get it for the house and let the battle begin!

Huge anime fan here. My man cave would probably end up looking like something out of an anime convention, with Pokemon stuff, Fullmetal Alchemist posters covering the walls, and bookshelves piled high with manga and anime. Either that or a home theater or gaming theme. These are some very creative ideas.

Full metal Alchemist posters would be nuts along the walls, as I am a fan as well. I love the idea of bookshelves piled up with anime and manga, as that is the equivalent of comics and comic dvd’s. I like the concept of a gaming theme in the home theater – but why not that in combination with an anime theme. There are a lot of Japanese games out there that meld with anime and manga, so combining the two would be awesome!

From the title, I expected you to weigh in on the Nerd vs. Geek debate, too! Is there a difference? Would a self-respecting Nerd have Geek paraphernalia in his man cave, or are the terms interchangeable? I loved this article. I’ll be recommending it to a bunch of my Man-Geek Comic Con-obsessed friends!

There terms (for the most part) are interchangeable. We all are nerds and geeks to some respect, it is just a matter of whether you focus more on the comic aspect, anime aspect, or fantasy aspect. I am a huge fan of Comic Con, as my wife and I go every year!

Hey there. Loved the article and the ideas you have proposed. I have recently cleaned my attic, removed all unnecessary stuff I had up there and I had an idea to create a man cave there. That is how I bumped to your post.

For me there is no doubt, I am a huge Star Wars fan and my man cave would be looking, as much as possible of course, like the interior of Millenium Falcon. Maybe I just do that actually, now that you have me this idea.

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